Trai Hume was delighted to shut out Pep Guardiola's free-scoring side
Jeremy Doku of Manchester City contests with Trai Hume of Sunderland
Jeremy Doku of Man City contests with Trai Hume of Sunderland(Image: SmartFrame/Manchester City FC)
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Trai Hume praised the battling spirit of the team after Sunderland held Manchester City to a goalless draw at the Stadium of Light.
Hume was part of a side that preserved their unbeaten home run in the Premier League to 10 games.
The Northern Ireland international said: “We know how good of a side they are. We played them a couple of weeks ago and they were a bit conservative.
“At our place, it’s a completely different game with the fans behind you.
“We got after them to win the ball back and we had a few chances. They had chances themselves but I think that everyone that played along with the substitutes were excellent.”
The Stadium of Light was once again at it’s noisiest best and Hume didn’t fall short of acknowledging their importance throughout the game.
He continued: “It’s never in doubt how good the fans are. They are always going to push us. They are with us every step of the way so it’s great to keep the unbeaten run going.”
In the frantic run of fixtures, it’s a quick turnaround for the Lads as they prepare to face Tottenham Hotspur in north London, on Sunday.
“There’s a lot of games in quick succession so we have to recover well. We are in training tomorrow. We’ll analyse them and get ready to go again,” he concluded.
Head coach Regis Le Bris was delighted with the character his side showed againsrt Pep Guardiola's men, adding: “It was a good game against a really strong opponent, probably one of the best in Europe.
“It was important to defend properly and I think we showed we were able to defend high and also with a mid-block.
“When they stepped up with their quality and managed the ball in our final third, they showed they could create many chances.
“Our character was good and even when we were on the edge, we always had a head or a foot to protect the goal. That was important tonight.
“It was also important to escape their counter-press. In the first game a few weeks ago they were excellent and it was absolutely impossible to get out, but today we did well and our build-up was better.
“We are growing and learning from different experiences. The standards within our team are high. We want to get better and it is important to always have that mindset, because if you want to stay at the same level, you will be punished.
"We must be ambitious and hopefully that will be the case in our next game.”